Can opener



NOV. 7, 1939. G; sT s 2,178,991

CAN OPENER Filed Aug. 8, 1938 2 Shets-Sheet 1 NOV. 7, 1939. GUSTAFSON2.178.991.

CAN OPENER Filed Aug. 8, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y fie Vania)" UNiT g'p gp o-AN OPENER George Henning Gustafson, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application August 8', 1938, Serial No. 223,671

6 Claims.

This invention relates to can openers. One object is to provide a canopener that can be used with safety and efficiency on either cans orjars of various sizes having round tops. A

5.: further object is to provide a can opener that cannot be jammed byengagement with the rim of the can or with a seam in the can top. Afurther object is to provide a can opener that will not permit a totallysevered can top to drop into the can. b

Astill further object is to provide a can opener which, in one form, isprovided with a readily removable handle to permit removal andreplacement of a blade that may be brokenor dulled; and one provided.with an automatically adjustable or semi-floating blade adapted tofollow the edge or rim of the can during the cutting operation withoutthe necessity of effort or attention or the requirement oils-kill on thepart of the operator.

A still further object is to'provide a can opener that may be used withsafety and efficiency in opening cans that have been heated, this sometimes being desirable in the preparation of foods of certain kinds. Withthe foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in thecombination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter fully described,pointed out in the claims and illustrated in the accompanying ;vdrawings, in which Fig. l is a top plan view of the, can openerillustrating its application.

- Fig. 2 is a view of. Fig. 1 inside elevation.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but with the opener shown in analtered position;

Fig. 4 is an inverted fragmentary plan View of the opener. Fig. 5 is aninverted plan view of a slightly modified form of guard from that shownin Fig- 4..

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a vertical cross sectional; view on th line 'l'-l of Fig. 2. s

Fig. 8-is a view in perspective of the sectiona knife employed.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail vertical sectional .view through Fig. 2illustrating theknife assembly.

Fig. 1D is a detail plan View of a slightly modified form of openershowing a guard that may be employed.

Fig. 11 is aview of Fig. in elevation showing its application to a can;

Fig. 12 is a View similar to Fig. 9 but showing a slightly modifiedknife assembly.

Fig. 13 is a vertical cross sectional view through Fig. 2 on the line l3|3. j

Fig. 14 is a detail View, partly in section and partly in elevation, ofa further slightly modified knife assembly.

Fig. 15 is a vertical cross sectional view through Fig. 14 on the'linel5l5.

Fig. 16 is a view partly in section and partly ,in elevation of afurther modified form of knife shank having a removable: handle at oneend,

a spur at the opposite end, the spur removably or permanently carrying aguard, and a knifeadjustably arranged upon the shank. Guardsof differenttypes and knives and knife mountings of different types are provided.The reference numeral I elongated, oblong in cross section, presentingopposed fiat faces and provided at one end with the angular spur 2 andat the opposite end with the removable handle formed with a socket toreceive the end of the shank. The body portion ofv the spur 2 isround incross section and extends through and beyond the shank; l and is fastthereto and provided upon one side of said shank with a round flat headspaced above the shank, except in the form shownin Figs. 10 and 11wherein thehead of the spur is con-. tiguous to one fiat face of theguard, thev spur upon the opposite face of the shank being. bentforwardly beyond the adjacent end of the shank almost parallel with theshank and having its termination pointed.

A guard of resilient material is carried by the spur upon the same sideof-the shank as the spur'head. This guard may be made of rub ber, rubbercomposition, or rubber upon one side and fabric upon the other.

As shown in Figs. 10 and 11 the guard 5 may be in the shape of a fiatcam-shaped rubber disc, one or both flat faces being smooth, or one facemay be formed with concentric circular ribs 6, this disc beingpermanently secured to the shank l by the spur 2 so that these membersdenotesv the shank of the opener,

perhaps one-sixteenth of an inch, and of a spread or maximum diametergreater than that of a No. 2 can, the point of engagement of the guardby the spur being such that a straight line from the spur toward thehandle parallel to the shank and in the vertical plane thereof andterminating at the guard edge will be shorter than a continuation ofthis line from the spur to the opposite disc or guard edge; and astraight line at right angles to the shank and passing through the spurhead to the guard periphery will be of substantially the same lengthupon each side of the spur.

In Figs. 1 to '7 inclusive slightly different and preferred types ofguards are shown. They are made of substantially the same material butare intended for detachable engagement with the shanks and spurs. Eachof these guards I! and I2 is round, or of regular shape, instead ofbeing cam-shaped and is formed upon one fiat face, which will be termedits bottom face, with alternating rows of protuberances l and ribs 8 asin Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 or with protuberances' 9 arranged inconcentric circles as shown in Fig. 5. While these guards are actuallyround they are provided with a pair of bracket or attaching straps ofmetal that cause them to assume the shape most clearly shown in Fig. 2thus forming an upstanding lip portion l when the guard is seen inelevation.

A pair of bracket straps is secured to each guard II or l2 to give itshape, one strap l3 being fiat and oblong and formed with a pair ofdepending prongs It, the strap being disposed upon the top side of theguard and the prongs extending therethrough and through slots I5 in thecooperating strap l6 or Ifia disposed upon the opposite or bottom sideof the guard, said prongs being then bent flat against the strap it oriSa to provide the assembly. The strap It is of greater length than thestrap l3 and is formed with an upwardly bent portion i! that engages theguard and forces a portion of it against one end of the strap l3 thusf0rming the upstanding lip portion In.

The strap I6 is provided with an elongated slot l8 that continues intothe upturned strap end I! and terminates in an enlarged portion I9,while the strap lfia is formed with'a slot Illa that does not extendinto its upturned end and that is formed with an enlarged end Wu. Theslots l8, l9 and Ha, I 9a permit the removable attachment of the guardsH or l2 to the shank of the opener, the round head 4 of the spur beingreceived through the enlarged slot and the spur then moved into thenarrow slot. Friction between the spur head and the strap and guard willyieldingly retain the strap and guard in any adjusted position relativeto the spur and shank but will permit manual oscillation or rotation ofthe guard about the spur as a pivot, one position of the guard beingshown in Fig. 2, and a second position in Fig. 3, it being noted that inFig. 21 the lip I0 is disposed toward the handle 3 while in Fig. 3 thelip is disposed away from the handle. With the lip l 9 in the positionshown in Fig. 3 the spur 2 may be forced through the top of the can 29and the shank I then brought down into the cutting position shown inFig. 2 and the guard moved back to operative position, there shown.

Slidably arranged upon the shank l is the knife carriage iii ofsubstantially inverted U-shape formation, one of the sides beingslightly longer than the other and bent inwardly close to the base, bothsides being perforated or slotted to receive the shank. Operativelysupported between the sides of the carriage is the housing 22 thatcontains either the expansion coil spring 23 as shown in Figs. '7, 9, 12and 13; or the rubber block 24 as shown in Fig. 15. The carriage shownin Figs. 2 and 9 is provided with a two-piece knife, a detail of whichis shown in Fig. 8. This knife has an elongated fiat frame 25 with bentends, one end having integral therewith the pointed tooth-shaped blade26 extending downwardly outside the carriage, parallel and in spacedrelation to a side thereof. The frame of the knife extends along theunder side of the shank and passes through the slots in the sides of thecarriage, the end remote from the blade being notched to form thedownturned prongs 21. The downturned blade end of the knife frame isformed with square corners that may ride against the rim of the can toguide the blade 26 clear of the rim.

The slot in the longer side of the carriage through which the knifepasses is of slightly greater width than the knife and of such length asto permit relative movement of the knife, one shoulder of this slotserving to keep the knife blade spaced slightly from the side wall ofthe can while this carriage side rides upon and against the upper andouter edge of the can top. An angular dog 28 has one end disposed insidethe carriage between one side thereof and the spring 23, the oppositeend extending through a slot in the carriage side in contact with theframe of the knife, this end of the dog being beveled terminally to formthe ear 29 disposed between the prongs 21 of the knife frame and ineffect forming a rear end pivot for the knife which is thereby affordedfreedom of lateral movement so essential during the cutting operation.

When the spur 2 has pierced the can top and the shank and guard havebeen disposed in the position shown in Fig. 2, previously described, theblade 26 will have been forced through the can top, the carriage 2ibeing so positioned upon the shank I that the longer bent side of thecarriage is disposed against the can periphery. With the left hand theoperator now presses the guard downwardly into engagement with the cantop to steady same while with his right hand he moves the handle 3 aboutthe can causing the blade to cut the top free from the can. Should thespur 2 not have been placed exactly in the center of the can top theblade will not ride into and bind against the wall of the can, ascertain types of can opener blades have been known to do at some pointin the cutting operation, as the spring 23 will be partially compressedby the knife and dog thus permitting a movement of the blade inwardly,to clear the can wall, this movement being denoted in Fig. 9, the bladebeing shown in normal position in full lines and in altered position indotted lines.

In Fig. 12 the knife 3! is of one-piece construction, the ends of theframe being downturned, one end being disposed inside the carriagebetween one end of the spring 23 and the adjacent side of the carriagewhile the opposite end is disposed outside the carriage and carries atooth-shaped blade 30.

Should the blade 39 encounter the side wall of the can the downturnedremote end of the knife will compress the spring permitting a movementof the knife blade and knife similar to that shown in Fig. 9. In Figs.14 and 15 the frame of the knife is waved and as the knife is formed ofa resilient metal it binds against the shank l to yieldingly anchor theknife in any adjusted position upon the shank. A block 24 of rubber ishere provided in the carriage and between one end of the rubber blockand the carriage side wall one end of the one-piece knife is disposed toprovide a compensating knife movement as previously described.

In Figs. 16 and 1'7 a one-piece knife 32 extends through the sides ofthe carriage 2!, one knife end extending downwardly and being providedwith the blade 33 while the opposite end of the knife also downturnedand outside the carriage is bifurcated to receive between its prongs thetongue 34 fast upon one end of the flat spring 35 the body portion ofwhich is loop-shaped and disposed within the carriage, one end extendingthrough a side thereof for engagement with the knife. Should this blade33 encounter an obstacle the spring 35 will permit a movementcorresponding to that described relative to the blade 26 in Fig. 9. Inopening a can from the position of the opener shown in Fig. 2 the guardis adjusted manually as the handle 3 is moved about the can during thecutting operation. The guard will protect the hand of the operator fromcontact with the cut edge of the can or of the top thereof and as it ismanually retained in engagement with the sides and top of the can duringthe cutting operation it enables the operator to prevent the can fromslipping or overturning and when the can top is completely severed fromthe can the guard will prevent it from dropping from the spur of theopener into the can. The corrugations upon the under side of the guardare to cause friction between the guard and the can top to permit abetter gripupon the can to be obtained. The guard wil also protect thehand of the operator while opening cans of hot foods. When the guard isremoved from the shank of the opener it may be used as a jar opener. Itmay be manually pressed about the top of a'jar without hindrance fromthe metal straps and provide an efficient gripping means for the top.

When the spur 2 is to be introduced into the can top center, as shown inFig. 3 the guard is first reversed so that its lip I is disposed awayfrom the handle to avoid interference with the spur at the time thisincision is made.

What is claimed is:

1. In a can opener, a shank, a spur at one end thereof, an invertedU-shaped carriage slidable upon said shank, the sides of said carriagebeing slotted, a knife carried by said carriage and extending throughsaid side slots, and means carried by said carriage between the sidesthereof for yieldingly retaining said knife in a predeter mined positionrelative to said carriage, said means including a dog having pivotalengagement with one end of said knife.

2. In a can opener, a shank, a spur at one'end thereof, an invertedU-shaped carriage slidable upon said shank, the sides of said carriagebeing slotted, a knife extending through the carriage slots, one end ofsaid knife being bifurcated, a blade at the opposite end of said knife,a housing in said carriage, a spring in said housing, a dog engaged bysaid spring and engaging the bifurcated end of said knife, and a guardcarried by said shank. Y

3. In a canopener, a shank, a spur at one end thereof, an invertedsubstantially U-shaped oarriage slidable upon said shank, the sidesofsaid carriage being slotted, one of said sides being longer thantheother and parallel thereto at its ,free end, one end wall .of the slotin said longer side being disposed outwardly from the free end of saidside, a knife extending through the slotted portions of said carriagesides for engagement with the said slotend wall, andmeans carried bysaid carriage engaging said knife for retaining same in yieldingengagement with the said slot end wall.

4. In a can and jar opener, a shank, a knife carried thereby, a spurcarried by said shank, an elongated angular slotted bracket strap, acorrugated resilient guard, and a straight bracket strap formed withprongs passing through said guard and through slots in said angularbracket strap, the slots in said angular strap releasably and.adjustably receiving said spur.

5. In a can opener, a shank, a knife carried thereby, a headed spurcarried by said shank, an elongated angular slotted bracket strap, oneof the slots therein having an enlarged portion, a corrugated resilientguard, and a straight bracket strap formed with prongs passing throughsaid guard and through slots in said angular bracket strap, the enlargedportion of the one slot in said angular bracket strap releasablyreceiving the head of said spur.

6. In a can opener, a shank, a spur at one end thereof, a carriagefreelyslidable upon said shank, a knife carried by said carriage and extendingthrough one side thereof and terminating outside said carriage indownturned prongs, a housing in said carriage, a coil spring in saidhousing, and a dog carried by said carriage with one end abutting saidcoil spring and the opposite end extending through said carriage andterminating in an ear engaging the pronged end of said knife;

GEORGE HENNING GUSTAFSON.

